April 2024

Another brick on the Wall: On the Effects of Non-Contributory Pensions on Material and Subjective Well Being

By Rosangela Bando, Sebastian Galiani & Paul Gertler Public expenditures on non-contributory pensions are equivalent to at least 1 percent of GDP in several countries in Latin America and is expected to increase. We explore the effect of non-contributory pensions on the well-being of the beneficiary population by studying the Pensiones Alimentarias program established by law in Paraguay, which targets older adults living in poverty. Households with a beneficiary increased their level of consumption by 44 percent. The program improved...

The future of life expectancy

By Prachi Patkee & Adam Strange Human longevity is one of the great success stories of the past century, and there is broad consensus that there are further gains to come. Mortality improvement forecasts underpin the insurance industry's long-term mortality and longevity lines of business. To generate long term forecasts, defined as beyond 20 years, a holistic view of the factors that influence mortality, which combine analyses of historic trends with a forward-looking view of medical advances, societal changes and...

January 2024

US. California Offering Health Insurance To Undocumented Immigrants: What To Know

Undocumented adults between the ages of 26 and 49 in California will qualify for health insurance under the state’s Medi-Cal program beginning Monday, provided they meet eligibility requirements for the program, which is designed to insure low income residents. This move expands the state’s health insurance coverage to include all undocumented immigrants—the state previously only covered undocumented children, those between 19 and 25 and those 50 years and older.​​ This expansion—which was approved in legislation in May—will make around an additional 700,000 undocumented residents eligible...

The research aiming to keep people healthier for longer

Despite what the young might like to think, ageing is inevitable as adulthood progresses. In How We Age, geneticist Coleen Murphy provides no silver bullets for remaining youthful. Rather, she offers a scholarly account of the state of ageing research that is both lively and personal. She also gives real insight into the ups and downs of leading a research laboratory. The book is a paean to the power of invertebrate model organisms such as the worm Caenorhabditis elegans and fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster,...

December 2023

The health status of the retirement-age population: a first approach

By Laura Crespo & Juan F. Jimeno Rationale The health of the population aged 55 to 69 influences their labour supply and retirement decisions. This article aims to document their health status, in Spain and in other European countries, drawing on data from the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Takeaways •There are marked differences by gender in the health status of the Spanish population aged 65 to 69. Among women, 62.9% report chronic health problems, 30.1% mobility limitations and 32.1%...

Meeting multiple objectives: The pension fund addressing mental health

With the right governance models pension funds can play a role in broader societal issues, such as mental health in the workplace, while still delivering financial security for members. A unique “democratic governance structure” at the Danish Velliv Association allows it to manage multiple objectives – delivering value to members and focusing philanthropic efforts on mental health in the workplace –  chief executive Lars Wallberg told delegates at the Sustainability in Practice conference at Oxford University. The commercial Danish pension...

November 2023

Health and Retirement: Heterogeneity in the Responsiveness to Pension Incentives

By De Fen Hsu, Melinda Sandler Morrill & Aditi Pathak Workers often time retirement around pension eligibility, yielding a strong instrument for retirement timing.  By estimating the characteristics of the complier population, we find heterogeneity by individuals' health status in the responsiveness to pension-related financial incentives to retire.  Workers in poor health do not uniformly retire earlier or later, but rather are less responsive overall to pension incentives.  Thus, characterizing compliers may yield different conclusions than simple comparisons of means. Source...

September 2023

Population Aging and Economic Growth: From Demographic Dividend to Demographic Drag?

By Rainer Kotschy & David E. Bloom  This paper examines the extent to which changes in working-age shares associated with population aging might slow economic growth in upcoming years. We first analyze the economic effects of changing working-age shares in a standard empirical growth model using country panel data from 1950–2015. We then juxtapose the estimates with predicted shifts in population age structure to project economic growth in 2020–2050. Our results indicate that population aging will slow economic growth throughout...

August 2023

The Impact of Aging Demographics on Public Health Challenges

The global population continues to increase, although the growth rate has been gradually declining. Specific current population trends can vary depending on the region and country. Many developing countries experience higher population growth rates compared to developed nations. Many countries are experiencing an increase in the proportion of elderly individuals due to declining birth rates and improved healthcare leading to longer life expectancy. Population dynamics play a pivotal role in shaping the direction and challenges of public health initiatives. As...

The answer to the problem of loneliness and ageism among older adults may lie in community resilience

Ageism and loneliness are two relevant public health issues, mainly affecting older adults' mental health. As the average life expectancy increases, these issues tend to coexist and may threaten the quality of life of older adults, particularly those with significant barriers. New research has shown that resilience could reduce the mental health effects of ageism and loneliness, but the impact on minority elders remains unclear. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that older adults, in general, will be more racially and...